Michael L. Hawkins has had a forty-year career in public safety and is currently the President and Managing Associate of theSTARgroup, Inc. in Tallahassee, Florida. TheSTARgroup serves as public safety consultants to governmental agencies and private companies nationwide. Prior to starting theSTARgroup in 1995 Mike retired as Chief of Fire and Arson Investigations for Florida’s Department of Insurance. He also was the Chief of Law Enforcement for Florida’s Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. Prior to state employment Mike commanded the Bureau of Law Enforcement Operations for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. He began his career as a police officer with the Metro-Dade Public Safety Department and served as an investigator in that agency’s Organized Crime Division.
Mike is a graduate of the University of Alabama’s Department of Criminal Justice’s Masters Program and says his degree “has opened many professional doors over the years.”